The remarkable progress of the Lightning Network over the last year could help spearhead Bitcoin payments in the mainstream financial market.

Photo: muaban tienao / Flickr

On September 3, Bitcoin’s scalability solution Lightning Network achieved new milestone threshold with the overall node capacity crossing 100 BTC. Currently, over 3300 nodes and 12,000 open channels contribute to a network capacity of over 100 BTC tokens. The network capacity has doubled in just a month’s time with the Lightning Network hitting 50 BTC capacity in July. Over the last year, there is remarkable progress in the growth of Lightning Network.

Lightning Network is a second-layer scalability solution for the Bitcoin network. Lightning is another layer on top of the Bitcoin blockchain allowing transactions to switch back and forth before adding to the blockchain. This helps to reduce the network congestion taking place on the Bitcoin network. The basic aim of Lightning Network is to keep the costs low and increase transaction speeds while accommodating more investors on the Bitcoin blockchain.

CoinGate Brings More Merchants Onboard the Lightning Network

As CoinDesk reports, CoinGate – a payment processing startup – has started a pilot program getting 100 merchants onboard to test its Lightning-enabled payment services. The pilot programs also provide merchants with a security cover for costs, in case the funds are lost due to the use of its lightning-enabled software.

CoinGate CTO Rytis Bieliauskas told the publication:

“It’s a very new technology. Inevitably there will be some bugs, either in our implementation or in the Lightning Network. It will help, not just us, but the whole community because the bugs we find might help the whole protocol.”

CoinGate will also be handling the intricacies of crypto-to-fiat exchange. CoinGate CCO Vilius Semenas said that there is no limit to the number of invoices CoinGate will reimburse. In an email to Forbes, CoinGate wrote:

“We have processed more than 100 payments, with no single error. In the beginning, we announced that we will reimburse losses if they occur because of a network error, but it actually never happened.”

More than 4000+ merchants who depend on Bitcoin’s payment processing solutions will accept payments through the Lightning Network. Some of the key merchants using CoinGate’s Lightning-enabled services include adult websites Livejasmin and Manyvids, gaming store Mmoga.com, Swiss watch manufacturers Chronoswiss and Louis Chevrolet, and hosting service Bitlaunch.

LiveJasmin’s head of payments – Tamás Szerencse – says that instant payments are very important in their industry. This is one reason why the company joined CoinGate’s Lightning pilot program. LiveJasmin has more than 40 million daily visitors making it as the biggest merchant to join the Lightning pilot program.

Lightning Solutions Can Drive Further the Bitcoin Adoption Rate

Bitcoin’s adoption in the mainstream market for payments is still very little. However, the significant progress in the Lightning solution can possibly players to transact using Bitcoin. Over the long run, this can prove to be very beneficial to Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts.

Industry experts also believe that Lightning-enabled transactions can also provide a cheaper alternative to credit cards, especially for merchants dealing with micro-payments. The pilot program from CoinGate is a crucial opportunity to move ahead in that direction.

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